Medical devices, including cardiac stimulus devices such as implantable cardiac pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), are surgically implanted within a patient and have one or more electrical leads that conduct signals to and receive signals from the patient's heart. Each electrical lead has at least one electrode. Electrode types include ring, tip, and coil electrodes. Tip electrodes are positioned at the tip of the lead, and ring electrodes are bands positioned along the length of the lead. Coil electrodes are exposed conductor coils positioned along the lead, and are often used as part of a defibrillator to disperse a strong signal throughout the heart. Several of these electrode types may be placed on a single lead, and several of these leads may be placed in or around an organ such as the heart. Additionally, each of the electrodes may be configured to transmit or conduct a signal or pulse, or to receive or sense a signal. As such, the lead(s) with the electrode(s) are in a configuration with respect to their position and their electrical character or nature. The electrical character of the electrode(s) may be changed, and one method for changing the configuration is through programming.
A programming device or programmer communicates with the device. One communication method uses a telemetry link that enables commands and data to be non-invasively transmitted and received between the programmer and the device. During a programming operation, a user sets programmable parameters, including those parameters that relate to the configuration of the electrode(s), to values that cause the medical device to work in an optimum way for a particular patient. There are a number of reasons for which it is desirable to change the configuration. One reason is that the appearance of an electrogram (ECG, EGM) and the detection of intrinsic heart signals can be improved by changing the sensing configuration for a particular patient. Another reason is that the anode usually drifts slightly over time in its threshold voltages and thus requires more power to deliver the same pacing pulse. Reprogramming or reconfiguring the pacemaker to switch over and pace from the cathode rather than the anode can reduce the power requirements. Yet another reason is that the pacing electrode may have been placed near or on top of a diaphragm nerve such that the patient hiccups at each pacing pulse. Changing the pacing pulse resolves this situation. The list of reasons given above are nonexclusive as one skilled in the art would recognize that other reasons exist.
As medical devices provide more leads, electrodes per lead, and programming parameters for the leads, programming a configuration tends to become more complicated and confusing. Due to discrepancies in the terminology and procedures used in the medical field between doctors, clinical engineers or other users, there may be problems in connecting a textual term such as “unipolar” or “bipolar” with the placement of the leads and the actual pacing and sensing vectors between the electrodes on the leads.
Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a system and method for graphically configuring leads of medical devices.